


How it Began

by down_into_underland



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Tumblr Prompt, commander holt shouldnt pry into his sons love life, i don't know what flirting even is so yeah, matt is clueless, shiro tries to flirt, well maybe he should
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7976650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/down_into_underland/pseuds/down_into_underland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a new kid transferring into the garrison, and there’s plenty of talk about what he’ll be like. Shiro isn’t one for gossip, but when he meets this adorable new kid, he can’t help but try and sweep the boy off of his feet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How it Began

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr prompt: How bout a Shatt prompt where Shiro is a MESS with Matt but tries to flirt and it ends up disastrous and Matt has no idea he's actually trying to flirt?
> 
> So this is set probably like 2 or 3 years before the kerberos mission, take your pick. It also includes my headcannons of what positions matt and his dad might have had on the kerberos besides nerdy science dorks. Also, anything in italics is Shiro thinking.

“Hey did you hear about the new kid?”

“Yeah! I heard he transferred in from some super prestigious university!”

“I heard was like a child genius or something.”

“Apparently he’s being brought here to become a researcher for a space exploration.”

“You mean they already decided he’s going to go to space?”

“Yeah that’s insane! Especially if he’s as young as us!” 

Shiro had been hearing these rumors all week. From what he could gather, a new cadet that was fairly young and incredibly smart was transferring into the space garrison. This new student was going to be in Shiro’s class, and he was just as excited as everyone else to meet the kid, but maybe not for the same reasons. Everyone else seemed to only be concerned with how smart the kid was or if he was going to be cute and single. Shiro didn’t really care about all that too much, he was just curious if this new cadet would be a better team player than literally everyone else in his class. 

Shiro entered his astro-physics classroom and took his normal seat in the very front of the classroom. Soon the rest of his class began pouring into their regular seats as it got closer and closer to the start of class. But still no new kid. The teacher finally entered the room last just as the clock signaled it was time to begin. He could hear the soft murmurs around the room of people asking where the new kid could possibly be. 

Just as the teacher was about to start speaking, a small figure ran into the classroom and up to the teacher.

“I’m sorry! I got lost coming here and I couldn’t find anyone to help me!” The small boy cried, panting and out of breath from running. Their teacher smiled calmly.

“That’s ok Matt, I understand it’s confusing to start somewhere new like this. Just take a seat.” The boy, Matt, who had his back towards the class turned and walked over to sit in the open seat next to Shiro, and Shiro’s heart stopped.

_ Holy shit he’s adorable. _ Shiro thought. Shiro looked almost star struck at the boy sitting next to him, he had large wire rimmed glasses and a mess of floppy light brown hair. His cheeks were flushed from running through the halls and he was wearing an oversized sweater. Matt turned to Shiro and smiled.

“Hi, I’m Matt. I just transferred here.” Matt said in a whisper as their teacher began writing today’s lesson on the board. 

“Uh, hi. I’m Takashi. But everyone just calls me Shiro.” 

“It’s nice to meet you Shiro!” Matt replied with huge and bright smile. Shiro could feel his cheeks starting to heat up as he looked down slightly at his notebook.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Matt.” Their conversation was cut short when their teacher finally started to talk.

* * *

 

As their class ended and everyone began putting their things away to move onto their next class or training area, Shiro waited for Matt by the door while he talked to their teacher. When Matt was finished, he turned around somewhat shocked to see Shiro standing somewhat shyly by the door and walked over to him.

“Hi, so, did you need help finding your way around? I can help you, if you want.” Shiro asked and was rewarded with a happy grin from Matt. 

“Really? That’d be amazing, thank you! I have engineer training right now in 301!” Matt explained. Shiro looked at him somewhat shocked.

“You’re an engineer?”

“Yeah, I’m actually really good with computers and machines even though my real purpose here is science related. So they put me as an engineer when I transferred here since they needed to put me as something!” Matt explained as the two boys started to walk to Matt’s class. 

“That’s really cool, I’m not too good with machines. Computers sure, but not machinery.”

“Oh, so that what track are you on? You look like a pilot to me, you have that cool kind of pilot vibe.” Shiro blushed at Matt’s compliment and laughed a little.

“Yeah, I’m a pilot. I don’t know about the whole ‘cool’ thing but thanks. You’re pretty cool yourself.” Shiro replied, trying to come off as suave but knowing he probably just sounded stupid. Matt laughed cheerfully.

“Me? Cool? Well if you think so but whatever!” Matt continued to laugh and Shiro found himself chuckling as well from Matt’s contagious joy. 

“So, everyone has been saying you’re really young to be here, is that true?” Shiro asked.

“I guess I’m young yeah. But I’m not that much younger I think. I’m 16.” Matt answered, although somewhat embarrassed. After all, he had no idea how old the other cadets were here and if he would seem like an out of place child.

“Oh that’s not that young. I just turned 18 but half of the other cadets in our class are 17. They made it seem like you were going to be 12 or something.” Shiro explained smiling as Matt laughed some more. Shiro was seriously going to get addicted to that laugh. 

“12? Oh god no that’s gross!” Matt scrunched up his nose at the thought.

_ Oh my god why is he so cute, holy shit, this is so bad. I’m going to fall in love with this adorable dork what do I do? Do I try to flirt with him? Do I ask him out? But we just met that would be weird. Is he even single? Is he even gay?! Oh no what am I going to do. _

Shiro’s mind was a mess right now to say the least. He wasn’t even listening to what Matt was babbling about anymore, he was just admiring the cuteness that was Matt’s face and the way his eyes lit up with excitement.

“ … And then after I dumped my dickhead of a boyfriend-”

“Wait, what?” Shiro cut off Matt as the words he said began to finally sink in. Matt blushed and hung his head slightly.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m gay and used to have a boyfriend, but he was an ass. So no more boyfriend…” Matt explained, clearly fearful at what Shiro’s reaction would be to finding out he was gay.

Meanwhile Shiro was celebrating in his mind.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Some guys are just terrible like that, right?” Shiro said smiling reassuringly. Matt smiled and let out a relieved sigh.

“Yeah, hopefully I don’t run into another guy like him!” 

_ You can run into my arms anytime you want. _

“Well, who knows, maybe you’ll find someone even better real close by.” Shiro suggested stepping a little closer to Matt as they reached Matt’s classroom. Matt looked up to Shiro and seemed not to notice the change in distance between the two of them. 

“Hopefully! I’d like to find someone here, but I’m not holding my breath, y’know? It’s not like someone’s just gonna waltz into my life and ask me out, right? Oh well, thanks for walking me here, Shiro! I’ll see you later!” Matt turned and ran into his class on this time leaving Shiro defeated. His shoulders slumped and he sighed sadly.

_ Did I do it wrong? I’ve never really flirted with someone like that. Is he maybe just not interested?  _

Shiro wasn’t sure how he should go about wooing this adorable new kid, but he knew he need to figure out something soon. No way was he going to let someone else get to him first!

* * *

 

Shiro discovered that either has literally the worst flirter ever, or Matt was just incredibly dense. He still hadn’t decided on which one it was though.

Shiro had tried every move he could think of when it came to flirting. He had given Matt more compliments than he ever thought possibly, he would give the smaller boys light touches when they were hanging out, offer to carry Matt’s stuff for him, even threw a few winks in there when he thought it was appropriate. Hell, he even had invited Matt to watch a movie in his room, just the two of them, and had done that cheesy yawn and put your arm around the other’s shoulders. But Matt seemed to be so engrossed in the movie he hadn’t even noticed. Or he just ignored him. Shiro really hoped he hadn’t ignored him. 

Either way, Shiro really didn’t know what to do anymore. The entirety of the school seemed to know about Shiro being madly in love with Matt accept Mat himself. His friends kept teasing him, telling him he was going to hurt himself if he kept trying to flirt so hard. But what else was Shiro supposed to do? 

His answer came when he got a visit from his favorite teacher of all time. Shiro had been studying in his room when he heard the knock on his door. He quickly got up and opened the door.

“Professor Holt! What are you doing here?” Shiro asked with a smile. Professor Holt was a communications teacher, but also taught all of the history of space exploration classes that Shiro loved so much. 

“Hello Shiro, may I come in and have a word with you for a second?” Professor Holt asked. 

“Of course! Is something wrong?” Shiro asked as he let Professor Holt into his room and shut the door behind them. 

“Not necessarily, but I wanted to talk to you about my son.” Professor Holt answered as he took a seat on Shiro’s bed.

“You’re son? I didn’t know you had a son sir.” Shiro replied innocently. Professor Holt looked at Shiro like he had five heads. 

“ … You’re joking, correct?” 

“Uh, no? Why?” Shiro met the Professor’s confused look with one of his own. Professor Holy sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Shiro. My son’s name is Matt. You’ve been hanging around him constantly ever since he transferred here.” 

Shiro felt like a ton of bricks just hit him in the face. 

“What?! Matt is your son?! He never told me that!” Shiro stood in disbelief as Professor Holt seemed unable to contain his laughter. 

“That’s just like Matt! He probably thought about telling you and then never did. He can be somewhat absent minded with small ‘insignificant’ details, as he calls them.” Shiro was still standing completely shocked and silent as Professor Holt finally stopped laughing and looking at Shiro more seriously. 

“Anyway, back to what I want to talk about. Matt and you have been getting rather close recently from what I’ve heard. And I just wanted to make sure you don’t hurt my son.”

“Why would I ever hurt Matt?” Shiro asked confused. He wouldn’t hurt Matt in a million years. Unless of course it was like to save his life or something. Professor Holt sighed and looked down sadly.

“Matt has a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve. The boy gets feelings for people very easily even if he knows he shouldn’t. I just want you to understand that if you have to turn him down, you must be sure to do it very gently.” Shiro’s mind had flat lined. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was he being serious? 

“Are you saying Matt has feelings for me?” Shiro asked in disbelief and wonder.

“To be honest, I heard him talking to his younger sister about possibly telling you about his feelings. That is why I wanted to warn you about how easily he gets hurt. I know I should stay out of my sons love life but I worry about him. He got very badly hurt in his last relationship and I didn’t want that to happen with one of my favorite students.” Professor Holt explained with a sigh.

“Sir. I promise, you won’t have to worry about a thing.” Shiro said with a smile. Professor Holt looked up to Shiro with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh? Well if that’s the case then let me end with this. Break my sons heart, and we will have a problem Shiro. And none of us want that. Have a good night!” Professor Holt quickly left the room with a short wave and a smile that left Shiro wondering if he should laugh or be scared. But none of that mattered. Shiro was ecstatic, and went to bed with a smile on his face and a dream of what could happen tomorrow.

* * *

 

Shiro hadn’t seen Matt a single time the morning. He was apparently out on personal business and thus not in any of the morning classes Shiro and him had together. Then he didn’t show up at lunch either. Shiro was beginning to worry, he considered texting Matt to see if everything was ok, but he didn’t want to seem pushy. Although, it was  _ really _ tempting.

Shiro was sitting on the roof of the garrison stargazing (and wishing Matt was here to cuddle with him). He was staring hard at his phone worriedly. He really felt like he should text Matt, just to make sure everything was ok. Just as he was about to send a text that was probably way too long, he heard a nervous cough from behind him. Shiro’s head spun around to see Matt standing there with his hands behind his back. His head was cast down and he was kicking at some imaginary dirt on the ground. 

“Uh, hey Shiro.” Matt said softly. Shiro sighed relieved and stood up to walk over to Matt. 

“Hey Matt, you’ve been gone all day I was getting worried. Everything ok?” Shiro asked warmly.

“Yup! Everything’s great! Well… sort of…” Matt trailed off softly as he his eyes went from Shiro’s face to down at his feet once again. Shiro’s face filled with worry as he place a gentle hand on Matt’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s really wrong… I just need to tell you something.” Matt looked up to Shiro like a scared child and Shiro felt his heart clench. This was it. Was this why Matt hadn’t been around? Was he scared of talking to Shiro? Shiro found that absolutely adorable, but also felt bad for being the reason Matt was so worried. 

“What is it? You know you can tell me anything.” Shiro’s smile caused Matt to smile back fondly and take a deep and determined breath.

“I really like you Shiro. I don’t know if that makes things weird or if you actually hate me now that I said that, but I’ve liked you for a long time and I haven’t known how to tell you so I decided to just be direct even though I don’t think I have any kind of chance with you. But I should try right? Even if I know I’ll probably get hurt, but I really want to kiss you and cuddle with you, and go on dates with you so I just had to take that chance no matter how stupid, and… shit I should stop talking now, shouldn’t I?” Matt’s rambling came to an end when he finally stopped to take a breath, only then realizing his embarrassing ramblings. His cheeks were flushed a deep red that made Shiro just want to kiss them senseless.

“Yeah, you should probably stop talking.”

“Sorry…” 

“You don’t need to be sorry about anything Matt,” Shiro began, “I really like you a lot too Matt. I have since the moment I met you. I tried to get that point across without flat out telling you, but I guess it didn’t really work.” 

“Wait! You did?! How did I never notice?!” Matt asked shocked at himself more than anything else. Shiro laughed and shook his head.

“I don’t know how you didn’t notice, but you sure made things difficult for me. I think I pulled a brain muscle trying to come up with new ways to flirt with you.” 

“You can’t pull a brain muscle Shiro.” Matt stated matter of factly and Shiro only laughed before pulling Matt into a hug,

“I know you huge dork, but you get the idea.” Shiro spoke into Matt’s hair as Matt hid his red stained cheeks in Shiro’s chest.

“Yeah, yeah I get it. Does this mean we can cuddle whenever we watch movies now? Because that’s been something I’ve needed for a long time.”

“Yes, Matt. We can cuddle and watch movies all you want.”        


End file.
